Recently, South Carolina Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Darrin Horn announced changes to his coaching roster for the 2010-2011 season. In the line-up as Assistant Coach is Orlando Early, a Gardner-Webb University alumnus in Accounting. Early brings a wealth of experience to the Gamecock’s court including strong recruiting skills, a positive head coach history, and familiarity with the Southeastern Conference. He comes to South Carolina from the University of Louisiana-Monroe where, as Head Basketball Coach, he was named the Sun Belt Conference coach of the year in 2007 after leading his team to a division title. In addition, he was named coach of the year by the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches, Louisiana Sports Writers Association, and National Association of Basketball Coaches (District 8 Coach of the Year). Early, who was named the third-best assistant coach in the nation in 2004 by Athlon Sports, remarks, “This is a great opportunity for me to be at the highest level of college basketball with a head coach and a program this without question on the rise. I’m excited about the challenge of contributing in any way that I can to help coach Horn and South Carolina be successful.”
Early began his coaching career here at Gardner-Webb from 1993-1995. He went to Western Carolina University as an Assistant Coach, and in his final two seasons as the Associate Head Coach, he helped Catamounts capture the Southern Conference Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. From 1998-2001, he was Assistant Coach for Charlotte 49ers where he helped lead the team to two Conference USA titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances, and an NIT appearance. Early was on the leader board as Assistant Coach for the University of Alabama from 2001-2005 during four-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, an NCAA Elite Eight appearance, a SEC regular-season championship, and a No. 1 national ranking. He was the Head Coach for the Warhawks from 2005-2010, where in his final season, the team advanced to the quarterfinals in the Sun Belt Tournament.
